Ex-NFL player's death self-defense

Victim confronted neighbor over noise complaint

April 20, 2004|By Carlos Sadovi, Tribune staff reporter.

A day after a former professional football player was fatally shot after a fight with a neighbor over loud music, prosecutors ruled he was killed in self-defense and decided not to pursue murder charges.

Thomas Williams, 38, of the 6700 block of South Cornell Avenue received misdemeanor charges for failing to register his gun, a police spokesman said.

Brice Hunter, 29, a former wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was killed about 3:45 a.m. Sunday after he and Williams got into a quarrel that escalated into a fight.

After Williams had complained about loud music coming from Hunter's apartment, Hunter went to Williams' apartment and confronted him about the complaint. The two then got into a fight that led to Williams getting his gun.

Prosecutors turned down a request from police to charge Williams with murder and called Hunter's death self-defense, said Jerry Lawrence, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office. "[He] was committing a home invasion when he was shot," Lawrence said.

Chicago police continued to search Monday for the individual or people who opened fire on a group in Washington Park on the city's South Side, killing one man Sunday evening.

A 29-year-old man was shot in the back and the buttocks and was in serious condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and an 18-year-old woman was shot in the buttocks and sent to Stroger Hospital, where she was treated and released. Also, a 31-year-old female was shot in the left forearm and taken to the University of Chicago Hospitals, where she was treated and released, police said.

The group was in the park at 5538 S. Russell Drive near a swimming pool when shots were fired about 8 p.m., police said. Police don't know how many people were responsible and are investigating a motive, Harper said.

Police also continued to question a person Monday about the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man Sunday evening in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Kevin Murphy of the 1200 block of North Artesian Avenue died of multiple wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Murphy was shot about 11:30 p.m. outside his home and was pronounced dead at 3:27 a.m. Monday, a medical examiner's spokeswoman said.